The invention relates to a method for tracing payment data in an anonymous payment system. More in particular, the invention relates to such method in the event that payment data has been lost due to damage of the payment means or premature interruption of a transaction.
In electronic payment systems, problems may arise if a payment means, such as a payment card, is damaged or lost. Particularly in the event of payment systems with payment in advance ("prepaid payment systems"), the value stored in the payment means may then be lost. In order in such case not to put the user at a disadvantage, the payment transactions effected should be reconstructed or at least traced, in order as yet to have a fair settlement take place of the actually effected payments.
Even if a (payment) transaction is prematurely broken off, payment data may be lost, with possible adverse consequences for the user of the payment means and/or for the receiver of the payment. In this case, payment data should also be traced, in order to prevent or undo possible harm.
In the event of anonymous payment systems, i.e., payment systems in which the payments cannot afterwards be related to a certain user (payer), the problem arises that reconstructing or tracing effected payment transaction in most cases is impossible. It is specifically the anonymous nature of such payment systems which impedes transactions being traced. The users of such systems can therefore be harmed by the loss of, or damage to, their payment means.
Prior art documents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,018,196 and 4,993,068, or European Patent Applications 0 637 004 and 0 518 365, offer no solution to these problems.